


Silent In The Trees

by arazialotis



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 09:23:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15140045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arazialotis/pseuds/arazialotis
Summary: The reader is a ghost with no memories of her past life and bound to a forest, spending her days wandering when two hikers catch her eye. Inspired by Twenty One Pilots - Trees.





	Silent In The Trees

The forest was cold today, colder than usual. Perhaps it was due to the drops of rain, though you couldn’t feel them. You couldn’t feel anything. You couldn’t smell the cedar, feel the warmth of the sun’s rays as they shined through the branches, run your hands across the rough tree bark, make a sound at hikers who passed through. The only sensation was cold; and as far as you could tell, you were stuck in your own personal hell.

Days turned into months, each spent wandering through the trees. It seemed that was your sole purpose. Even if you tried to leave and follow the road to it’s end, you found yourself engulfed in nothingness until reappearing in the middle of the forest.

Apparently the rain did not hinder those determined to walk the trails. Two men weaved through the trails. They were friends - no, brothers, you thought. You followed them in silence. Something about them drew you in, almost a sense of familiarity. Perhaps they had hiked these trails before. The rain drowned out their voices but you could make out mumbling. You heard a twig snap underneath your foot. But that wasn’t possible… you looked down in confusion...

“Y/N?” The shorter one with eyes like the forest asked you. The other one held a device with a high pitched noise.

Could they see you? If your heart was still beating it would have stopped in its tracks. You felt a buzz of electricity and then back into nothingness. God, you hated the nothing. But soon you were back in the middle of the woods, to the place where you always found yourself. You ran as fast as you could trying to remember what trail they were on but came up empty handed. The man had called you Y/N, but that name had no meaning to you. You pondered the name for most of the day.

The following day was sunny and the woods were full of life. Birds chirping with ribbons and twigs for their nests. Squirrels scurrying around looking for long forgotten buried treasures. You tried to reach out to them but they always scampered away from the chill that followed you. You aimlessly wandered, unaware you were following the same routine path you always did.

“Hello?” You were timidly greeted with a soft voice.

You turned around to see the same man you did yesterday, with the green eyes, unaccompanied. You started to feel the same buzzing you did yesterday and became afraid of returning to the darkness.

“It’s okay.” He assured. “You’re safe.”

The buzzing subsided. You examined your body and your limbs surprised you stayed in the present.

“You can see me?” You asked, your voice feeling foreign in your throat.

He nodded his head.

“You were here yesterday?” You slowly asked, unsure of how much time had truly passed.

“That’s right.” He confirmed.

“You called me Y/N?” You asked again.

“You just reminded me of someone is all.” He explained. “What’s your name?”

You thought long and hard but ended up shaking your head. “I don’t remember.” You confessed.

“That’s okay. You can call me Dean if you would like.”

“Dean.” You repeated with a smile on your lips. He laughed softly. You continued to grin, you hadn’t heard laughter in so long. “Is something funny?” You questioned curiously.

“No, I’m sorry, you just have an amazing smile.” He looked down at his feet almost with a sadness. “Hey, this might sound weird but would you want to sit down and just chat?” He questioned.

Normally, you would have said no to a stranger, but you couldn’t remember the last conversation you had. “Okay.” You agreed.

He pulled out a flannel blanket from his backpack and placed it on the ground. He sat down waiting for you. You timidly sat down as well, facing him from the opposite end. His breath started to show in the air and he pulled up the collar of his jacket.

“I’m sorry, I think the cold might be me.” You apologized and started to get up.

He motioned for you to stay seated. “No, no. I don’t mind.” You settled back down watching him look at you, still in shock someone was seeing you. “Is there anything you do remember?” He broke the silence.

You tried to think, flickering a little but holding your ground. “Ummm… just the cold and walking through the trees I guess.”

“Well even if you can’t remember the past, what do you know about yourself?” He asked again.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” You laughed a little.

“You might be surprised sweetheart.” Dean chuckled. You looked at him still unconvinced. “You’re a vanishing girl, I’ll take any theories at this point…” He encouraged you to open up.

You huffed. “… I don’t think I’m alive…” you admitted to him and to yourself. “As silly as that sounds… but it feels like I am stuck here, I can’t leave the woods… I’m trapped here and not sure why. I thought death would be different…” He watched you talk so earnestly, with that same sadness as before. “But that doesn’t make any sense, you must think I’m crazy or something.” You joked, gesturing insanity by pointing your index finger at your head and twirling it around while crossing your eyes.

“You’re not crazy, maybe just a little lost.” Dean suggested, slightly laughing at your antics.

Both your attention was grabbed by the snap of twigs behind you. “Dean? What the hell are you doing?”

It was the same guy he was with yesterday. You felt the tinge of electricity and the world fading in and out.

“Y/N, no!” Was the last thing you remembered Dean yelling before you disappeared.

When you woke, you were unsure of how much time had passed but you wanted to see Dean again. You ran back to the spot but he was gone. The device his partner had held was mounted on the tree. Its red lights were softly blinking and it was crackling with the sound of static. You moved closer to get a better look. The lights became a constant red and it shrieked loudly. It was an awful sound so you moved away. You sat down, far enough away from it so that it wouldn’t make that high pitched noise but close enough so that you wouldn’t miss Dean if he came back.

A couple hours passed until you heard footsteps crunching the ground underneath. You got up to look and smiled when you saw him.

“Hey!” Dean greeted you excitedly.

“I’m sorry, I can’t control when I disappear…” You blurted out. “How long has it been?”

“Only a few days.” He responded while shutting of the device.

“What is that thing?” You questioned with disgust.

Dean chuckled. “It’s an EMF reader, it picks up on your energy. I rigged it to alert my phone any time it goes past a certain level.”

“Impressive.” You commented.

“Nah, it’s really nothing.” Dean brushed off.

“No, really, it is. I would never be able to do something like that.” He seemed lost in a memory. “So, Sam’s not with you today?” 

Dean looked at you quizzically. “How’d you know his name was Sam?” 

“You told me? That you two were brothers and travel the country helping people.” You explained confused trying to recall your conversation.

Dean didn’t want to confront you. “Yeah, maybe I did.”

“So where were you before this?” You questioned.

“We had a case up in Montana… If you think this is the middle of nowhere, you’ve never been to Montana. It was beautiful though, green fields, mountains that touched the sky… you would have loved it.” 

“It sounds amazing.” You agreed.

Every day passed by with Dean coming to meet you on the trail and walking through the forest. Talking about anything and everything. You asked him a lot about life trying to recall certain details. He talked about eating bacon for breakfast and you could remember it’s sound crackling on the stove. He talked about driving down the road and you could remember the rumble of an engine. Not just the sound but the way it vibrated the entire car. You even imagined what it would be like traveling with Dean and Sam. You would have packed snacks like twizzlers and chex mix for the ride. You would have brought cards to play with Sam while Dean was driving and they would both make fun of your music. But it was just a fun thought.

Dean would sometimes try to ask you things to recall your past, but nothing came of it. It’s almost as if your memory was blocked. You asked Dean what it felt like to be kissed. He told you to imagine everything you ever wanted and then in one moment you have it all, everything seems right and it’s just the two of you in existence, moving with each other in perfect unison. You could almost feel a blush creeping up in your chest and spreading to your cheeks. But you laughed and called him overly romantic.

You had trouble keeping count, but 5 days must have passed and you were afraid for it to end. He couldn’t keep coming around everyday, he would eventually have to move on.

He broke your focus. “Where do you go… when you disappear?”

“I hate it… it’s like I don’t exist for a while, until I’m brought back.” You tried to explain.

“Do you come back to the same spot where you disappeared?” He questioned again.

“No, I come back at a place deep in the woods.” You had wandered with him all throughout the forest but had never taken him there.

“Do you mind if I see it?” He asked.

You huffed, hesitant about bringing him there, but you eventually agreed. The way back was easy for you. It drew you like pieces of a magnet. “Well, here it is, just like the rest of the forest. Trees, ferns, squirrels.”

Dean ignored what you were saying and ran over to a pile of brush urgently removing leaves and debris out of the way. “Oh god.” He muttered when he saw the remains of a body. He brought his fist up to his mouth to try to hold his strength together but tears were already streaming down his face. “I’m so sorry baby.”

You held back, confused that you had never noticed that before. You wondered who it was, who they were to Dean. Your thoughts flashed to an autumn night, there was a full moon in the clear sky, leaves on the ground, you were running but couldn’t catch your breath. You started to flicker in and out trying to stay present.

Dean’s voice soothed you and brought you back to steady ground. “This was Y/N. She was everything to me. I loved her the kind of way a bird loves the sky. But we were fire and ice. As much as we were good for each other, we could also be toxic. She packed up and left one night after a bad fight. But she always came back… The thing is, I don’t even remember what we were fighting about that night.”

“I’m so sorry.” Your entire being hurt experiencing the same pain he was feeling.

“Me too.” He sat in silence. You stayed back giving him space but eventually walked over to try and comfort him. You reached out to touch his shoulder, but felt nothing. He must have felt a horrid chill, realizing your mistake that you could never be comforting. He got up and brushed off the dirt on his jeans. “I should get going.”

You simply nodded your head and watched him walk away. Dean did not return the next day or the day after that. But you watched over the girl, making sure she was not disturbed while Dean was gone. It was mainly a pile of bones so she must have been there for a while. She had an emerald necklace and you imagined Dean would’ve given it to her. You bet she loved it as it reminded her of his eyes. She must have liked being warm, she was layered in flannel and a jacket. There was a silver band around her middle finger and she was clutching onto a cell phone. A message that probably never got through, you thought.

Dean and Sam returned a few days later. Sam was carrying two canisters. Dean looked upset.

“Hey.” You timidly greeted Dean, testing the waters.

Dean seemed like he was on the edge of crying and didn’t acknowledge you. Sam inspected the body pulling out bullets from a gun and a knife strapped to her leg. “Werewolves…” He assumed tossing the silver bullets aside.

“We don’t have to do this Sam, there has to be another way.” Dean pleaded.

Sam looked at you before responding to Dean. “We’ve discussed this before and as much as I miss her too, this is for the best. The way it should be.” 

“She hasn’t hurt anyone.” Dean argued. “What’s the harm in keeping her around until we think of something better?”

“That shadow is not her, Dean!” Sam countered back. “And even if it was, they all go rogue eventually. It’s best we finish this now.”

Your eyes bounced back and forth between them, trying to piece together the information. “Dean?” You whispered frightened.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay baby…” He cooed as Sam started pouring gasoline over the body.

Dean turned around, unable to continue watching as Sam started to sprinkle flakes of salt. For the first time you felt something. Your body stung all over and the connection was finally made. This girl was you. You anxiously looked back at Dean.

“Dean..” You pleaded, looking for answers, any answer, any memory.

“Just follow the light, can you do that for me?” Dean asked you.

But there was no light, no warmth. You heard Sam lit a match. “Wait!” You yelled. Sam hesitated but stopped. You went over to the body and with all your might, concentrated on the necklace. It pulled off easily. You brought it back to Dean. “She… I… I want you to have this.” Dean took it and clutched his fist around it. Sam re-lit another match. “I’m not sure what happened Dean, but I love you. I can’t feel anything else, but I can feel that. I can remember that.”

“I love you, and always will. I’ll find a way Y/N, I promise.” Dean swore to you.

The match hit the body and the form you had come to know, who wandered through the cold trees, permanently vanished leaving Sam and Dean alone in the forest.


End file.
